Girl Online by Zoe Sugg - Book Review

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias Girl Online, Penny blogs her hidden feelings about friendship, boys, her crazy family and the panic attacks that have begun to take over her life. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets Noah; a gorgeous, guitar-strumming American. 

Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog. 

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - ever.

Hi Everyone!

So I just closed the book, Girl Online by British Youtuber and Blogger, Zoe Sugg. It took me about a week to read it because not only was it a light, easy read but it was definitely undeniably gripping and addictive! I mean, I literally had the book propped up beside the cooker in the evenings and I'd have my head buried in the pages while my potatoes were softening! 

Firstly I should say that I found Zoe, aka 'Zoella's' blog many years ago when I was on a hunt for my twenty-first birthday cake. I stumbled across her on Google and was led to a post she'd done featuring this DELICIOUS chocolate and berry cake:

Zoella's 21st Birthday Post

And this was the cake that I had (yeah, her's definitely took the cake! Pardon the pathetic pun!)

I swear my cake looked far more glamorous all those years ago!?
Anyway, I've been following her blog ever since so when I heard that she was releasing a book, I was thrilled.

I know there's heaps of controversy around it being written by a ghost writer or whatever but to be honest I don't care.
I get the points that people are making, particularly novelists like myself.. how her book is just bombed into the world because of who she is where as we simple 'peasant' writers have to work our butts off to write a book alone, hunt down editors and agents, get handed a thousand rejection letters and undergo a seriously testing amount of self-doubt. But you know what? Good for her. Don't be hating on her just because she's got some good luck. As she said, the characters were her own and I see so much of Zoe in the pages... and the cover.

The cover is cute. To be honest, as I'm nearing my mid-twenties I was slightly embarrassed to be walking around with it and reading it in cafes during my lunch breaks.... but if you think about it, the key character, Penny Porter, is fifteen!!! So the baby blue cover and cartoon fairy lights draped across the title is understandable. 

I read this book knowing that it would be for a younger person. The only reasons I actually read it were because I've been a fan of Zoe's for years and have grown with her and secondly because the book was about blogging. I had to read it. Like probably almost all of you, I love blogging (who would have guessed?). So a novel based on the blogging world is something that has got to intrigue you! 

Even though the target market was definitely for teens in my opinion, at some sneaky point in this book, I was completely hooked! It has this power that just pulls you right in. 

Obviously I don't want to give too much of the story away... but basically the book is about a girl (aged fifteen,) called Penny Porter. She is the goofiest and most accident prone person you'll ever come across (I couldn't help but relate! Though I'll admit here that personally, I felt the clumsiness was way overdone. No one is THAT clumsy and trust me, I nearly lost my finger to a wet wipe box earlier this week!)
She started this anonymous blog where she could be herself and say anything she wanted without being scared and embarrassed. The blog is her safe haven. 

Some really embarrassing stuff happens to her and she's lucky enough to escape to New York just before Christmas where she can forget all about it along with her parents and best friend, Elliot. 

While in New York, Penny meets a boy. Noah. 

There's a beauty in their teen romance. It's so pure and sweet. I honestly couldn't help but fall in love with the characters. Plus it's looming closer to dreaded Valentines Day and you know - I'm living vicariously through the romance of fictional characters. Oh the sad life I do lead. 

BUT.... Noah has a secret and their teen romance is about to crumble around them when the truth gets revealed.

This book is far from some silly teen romance though. Zoe manages to successfully incorporate anxiety and panic attacks into the story which for someone like me who has suffered with panic attacks for about twelve years now... it was so appreciated. 

Not only does she describe panic attacks but she also gives exercises and tips on how to overcome them. 

I believe that this book is a mixture of so many things:

• A beautiful romantic escape we can live vicariously through.
• A helpful read that assists you in overcoming your panic attacks.
• A blogging miracle - (I think we forget that once upon a time, Zoella was just like the rest of us. It all started with a blog... and look at how far she has come! Sometimes, dreams really do come true.)
• Hope. No matter what it is that you're going through: Anxiety, friendship issues, sexuality - this book has it all. The best part is that although it touches on such deep topics, it's done in a way that is so light and easy to read. It doesn't overwhelm you with drama and the weight of negativity. It helps you to understand and tackle it. 
• Inspiration (seriously, if this book doesn't make you want to open up your laptop and write a new blog post then I don't know if anything will!)

Have any of you guys read this book?

If you have read it, what did you think of it? 

I for one personally loved it, even though it's not exactly the sort of book a mid-twenties girl should probably be carting around in her handbag! We all have those little pleasures in life - some find that it's Chocolate Cake, others Frozen Yogurt... mine, over this past week, was Girl Online.